Any Tips on How to Weing My Little One from Breast Milk

I started cutting back feedings w/my first child. I cut out easy feedings first--like first thing in the morning. I'd replace that feeding w/cereal or fruit. Then after about a week of that I cut out lunch time. The hardest were nap times then finally bedtime. He cried w/those two--but only the first day. He whined a little the next day or two, but it was really easier than I thought it would be. It took about a month to wean him completly. Good luck!!!

Here are some websites that should give you some guidance on weaning your baby.

http://parenting.ivillage.com/baby/bbreastfeed/topics/0,,...

http://parents.berkeley.edu/advice/nursing/weaning.html

http://www.breastfeedingbasics.org/pi/pi-175.pdf

http://www.babycenter.com

You can find many articles if you Google "weaning from the breast" or a phrase similar to that.

Good Luck to you.

I weaned my first daughter gradually once she turned one. I would give her regular milk with her meals and nurse her at night and on demand. When she wanted the comfort of being close and nursing I couldn't turn her away. When she would want to nurse I would first try to distract her with something else and offer a sippy cup but sometimes she just needed ther comfort of nursing, which is what I mean by on demand. She was totally weaned by 17mths. She pretty much did it herself. I stopped pumping milk when she turned one and gave her regular milk to drink with her meals once she turned one. Of course 2 mths prior to this I weaned her from the bottle except at night. I would put breast milk in a sippy cup for all feedings especially during meals. It was easier for me becuase she was in daycare 4 days a week. As for the nursing on demand, she weaned herself from that. I could not bear to push her away and let her scream when she wanted to nurse. Of course she was only nursing 1-2 times a day and at home only so it wasn't a big deal. She only nursed when she was sick and need the extra comfort, it was continuously and I think because of how irregular it was I stopped producing milk so it helped her wean herself.

start by giving her a sippy of 2% milk i never went for whole milk because in the state of FL the calcium come naturally in the water and the vitimin d from the sun, anyway cows milk actually tastes better than breast milk should be no prob other than you engorging some i'd still nurse at night but intoduce juice and milk during the day :)

With my kids, I just took it slow, start by replacing one feeding with milk in a cup and then a few days later replace another with milk in a cup, and keep doing that til she is fully weaned. My youngest's hardest one to wean from was the bedtime feeding.

Well, patience for the most part. I started weaning my daughter at 12 months and she didn't stop breastfeeding until 14.5 months, so it is a process. If you can get daddy more involved in bed time routine then that will help with the night time feeding. If your were breastfeeding out of the house before now is the time to stop that and to get out more during the day even if it is window shopping. Another thing I did was offering a sippy of milk before giving the breast. She slowly started to just take the sippy and not want the breast.

I would not stop. I nursed all of my kids until they were 2 and a half.
Now let me explain. Most people think OMG when I tell them that but think about it... a 2 1/2 year old is very busy learning and growing. Nurseing at that age is not for food but for comfort. They would nurse a little bit at night to fall asleep and then maybe five minutes in the morning to snuggle and wake up a bit before they take off to start the day. That morning I would hold them, rock them a minute, talk about how big they have gotten and that maybe they were too big for nurseing. ALL three of my kids agreed then went off to play. As for my breast there was hardly any milk to worry about so that also just faded without any worries or binding. I don't want to scare anyone but I have four children. My son Clayton died when he was three months old of SIDS. At that age the doctors can't give you anything to stop your breast milk. Talk about PAIN. I had to wrap my breast with ace bandages flat and tight. Then all I could do was use ice packs on my boobs. It took a over a week to get my milk to stop. People said I seemed distant at the funeral. Well duh, but also everyone wanted to hug me and if you have ever had engorged breast you know that is the last thing you want.
Now I am not saying nurse to the same age I did, but just let it fade away softly. It is a tender moment with your child. Enjoy it, why would you want to stop. You never know what tomorrow might bring.

Hi A.,

Ah, the weaning question! I didn't wean my youngest until he was 3 years or so. He was in no hurry to quit, but I was! I told him no nursing away from home (he's want to nurse in resturants and it was getting really hard to be discrete). Then I would only nurse he wanted and had to resist the urge to offer. I have four kids and nursed all but one past one year (due to a car accident, I could not move my arm). Gradual weaning would be easiest on you and your breasts.
Good luck with everything!
--M.

The best thing is to let your child self wean when she is ready she will stop.

First, congrats on nursing for a year! No need to wean just because your daughter is 1. If you want to read more on child lead weaning or you're weaning for another reason the best resource I've found is kellymom.com.

When I was breast feeding my son he stopped "asking" around 10 or 11 months old. So I just stopped "offering". He was more interested in learning how to use a cup.

I also found that it helped to make sure he ate good meals and was full off of that and would not be hungry for breast milk.

I hope this helps.

Hi Alice, what worked with us what to start mixing real milk with the breast milk ... first mix 3/4 breast - 1/4 whole milk, ever week change it to include more whole milk ... by the end of the month you should be on pure whole milk and your daughter should be none the wiser!

Good luck!

A.-

While everyone is right that there is no reason to stop if you don't want to, if you feel it's time, then it's time! A great tip I saw once was that a mom pumped at first and put the breastmilk in a sippy cup. Her son was happy to take milk from the cup once he realized it was something he already liked. After a few days, she substituted whole milk and apparently he didn't even notice the difference. My little boy turns 1 in about 3 weeks and I'm going to give this one a try once we decide to wean.

Also I am also studying (anthropology at FSU) while mommying to my first child, and also hardly know anyone--- I'm trying to make friends who are also student-mommies.....maybe trying to get a group together in Tallahassee. Let me know if you'd like to as well!

Well another vote for continuing.... I just weaned my 2 1/2 yr old a few months ago =). I too have gotten help before at kellymom.com
But if you need to wean then yes do it gradually if at all possible.
You can start out by not offering, only nurse when asked. And then decide you will try and distract everytime you are asked. For me I didn't want it to be hard on my my DS so if I tried to distract and he got upset I would still nurse. Of course one distraction technique is offering milk in a cup/bottle because maybe they are thirsty! Going outside always worked well here too! Basically if you set your mind to it, then it will probably happen fairly quickly unless your child is really set. Good Luck and think about continuing if you can!
~E.